[Qotm] September !

" It seems intuitively obvious to me, which means that it might be wrong. "

-Chris Torek [my Guru for C Programming]

Here comes september and i am not yet ready for it. I mean Sorry September never felt this way for you.

But somehow it seems you could have taken ur own sweet time. But then Time never waits for any1.

Guyz wake me up when september ends. From past 2 months now. I have lost track of day and night and immersed in Work@Office !

~P

The Original Eight :)

Stumbled on these while reading an e-book :)

~P

Terrorism Version 2.0.0.7

Terrorism in 2007 has turned a new leaf.
Terrorists no longer carry suicide mechanisms. No Cyanide capsules. They are a more educated lot these days. They hire Smart lawyers, Feign ignorance.

The Human Rights Laws of some countries give them so blatant rights that they no longer need to end their life if caught in the act. All they should have is

A Good Dumb Lawyer ( Peter Russo ;-) )
Financial backing
Wife or Family who can manipulate the media and sensationalize the case.

for now all Islamic Terrorists say goodbye to Cyanide.
Its more live life kingsize for them.

~P

[QOTM] Judicial Activism Vs Judicial Absenteeism

"A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity."

Ralph Nader, Former Green Party Candidate for U.S. President (2000).

This seems so apt in Sanjay Dutt;s case that the importance of that statement cannot be more emphasized.
The HC Judge set a precedent by saying he was doing his duty.

It goes Without saying the kind of pressure the High court judge must be under after all Sanjay Dutt was a reigning Movie star and progreny of a stalwart actor and CONGRESSMAN.
It also made a bold statement. If the HC Judge found the facts or prima facie evidence and pronounced a verdict of 6 years. It meant the that it was a total honest and upright judgement.

If the star still goes to the Highest Echelon(Supreme Court) the judge may actually give a bigger sentence but i feel it cannot be less than 6 yrs RI certainly.

If at all the sentence is reduced It would mean the judge
maybe pressurised by the CONGRESS government and that a lesser sentence is nothing short of Judicial Absenteeism.

~P

[Muzings] Culture of Accountability

@ Samsung i see what prolly no other handset maker might have(I presume).
Self-Started individuals.
Well maybe not all the people but some people(abt 40%) committed to get better bigger and eclectic products. When I mean products its just not about products such as iPhone or a Discman. Engineers try to refine the existing products to a T !.
It can be a CD player. Innovation and Better Engineering go hand in hand.

Thats why ;
Not just any other Semi conductor company can be Samsung;

Its people who execute without excuses who drive the wheels@SamsungIndia.

Though it happens to be a simple tried and tested Business Model.
The Marketing and Sales make sure the Engineers have enough on their hands.
The Engineers on their part make sure the end user has no blues and likens the product.


Essentially while the culture in the industry seems to be 10% appraisals year on year.
@Samsung its all about "Value For Money" approach. or "Money for Value" ;-)

Engineer executes without excuses as he has to account for the Salaries given out to him.
These days when the average indian salary is 1$ a day. THe IT Engineer is at a overly Skewed luxury that way.Unless VFM approach is adopted its hard to sustain his salarys year on year.
Luckily for Samsung India, Engineers have in grained this as part of their culture.

Which in other companys maybe by the way of Key Performance Indicators tighly coupled to the appraisal process.

So while the MFV approach is there but its mainly not built into the HR process and is at a sublime process and something between the Employer Samsung and its employees.

~P

Cost of Bush!

The Iraq war costs American taxpayers $195 million per day
For the cost of fighting the war in Iraq one day,

HOMELAND SECURITY

i. One day in Iraq could provide 3.97 million households with an emergency readiness kit.

ii One day in Iraq could close the financing gap for interoperable communications in 41 small cities, 36 mid-sized cities, or 6 large cities so that federal, state and local first responders can talk to one another during an emergency.

iii One day in Iraq could purchase 780 fire trucks for improving local emergency response capabilities.

iv One day in Iraq could employ 4,919 fire fighters, 4,222 police patrol officers, or 7,052 paramedics and emergency medical technicians for one year each.

v One day in Iraq could double the federal budget for nuclear reactor safety and security inspections to ensure that these potential terrorist targets are adequately protected.

vi One day in Iraq could pay for 1,101 additional border patrol agents to better guard our borders against potential terrorists.

vii One day in Iraq could provide 9,750 port container inspection units to detect hazardous materials being trafficked into the country.

viii One day in Iraq could provide 1,332 explosive trace detection portals for airport screening of passengers, as recommended by the 9/11 Commission.

ix One day in Iraq could provide 6,290 local law enforcement agencies a bomb-detecting robot.

x One day in Iraq could provide 4,875 narcotics vapor and particle detectors.xi

EDUCATION

One day in Iraq could cover the full cost of attendance for one year at a public college for more than 17,100 students.

xii One day in Iraq could provide more than 79,000 needy college students with a Pell grant.

xiii One day in Iraq could enroll 27,000 more children in Head Start.xiv One day in Iraq could employ 4,269 elementary school teachers or 4,027 secondary school teachers for one year.

HEALTH CARE

xv One day in Iraq could provide health insurance coverage to 344,500 working Americans to give them a break from the rising cost of coverage.

xvi One day in Iraq could provide health insurance coverage for one year to 380,900 uninsured children in America.

xvii One day in Iraq could employ 3,597 additional registered nurses for one year.

xviii One day in Iraq could immunize every person over 65 in the U.S. against influenza 4.6 times over.

xix One day in Iraq could immunize every baby born in the U.S. last year against measles, mumps, and rubella 14.2 times.

xx LABOR One day in Iraq could provide unemployment benefits for almost 722,000 unemployed Americans for one week.

xxi One day in Iraq could fund Social Security retirement benefits for one day for over 6.75 million Americans.

xxii One day in Iraq could provide comprehensive safety and health training to 121,875 workers.xxiii One day in Iraq could pay for an increase of $3.34 per hour in the wages of every minimum wage worker in the country.xxiv One day in Iraq could provide paid sick leave to half a million workers for an entire year.

BASIC NEEDS

xxv One day in Iraq could buy 71.55 million gallons of unleaded regular gasoline.

xxvi One day in Iraq could pay for one year’s gasoline consumption for 97,500 Americans, even at today’s elevated prices.

xxvii One day in Iraq could buy 63.1 million gallons of fortified whole milk.

xxviii One day in Iraq could buy 166.6 million cartons of large Grade A Eggs sold by the dozen.

INTERNATIONAL

xxix One day in Iraq is equivalent to half of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country of East Timor.

xxx One day in Iraq could feed all of the starving children in the world today almost four and a half times over.

xxxi One day in Iraq could vaccinate three-quarters of the children in Africa for measles and give millions a lifetime protection from the disease.

xxxii One day in Iraq could build 5,571 AIDS clinics in Africa.

xxxiii One day in Iraq could provide 650,000 women in Africa living with HIV/AIDS antiretroviral treatment for one year to extend their lives and improve the lives of their children.

xxxiv One day in Iraq could provide one third of the aid needed for earthquake relief for the four million people affected in South Asia.

These are Excerpts from a US Daily.

Apalling statistics if true...

~Prasanna.

7 wonders of the world ! eh what ?

Itz kind of funny there was a opinion poll to decide "Which are the Seven wonders of the world". Sometimes if u ask n noof people you get N opinions.

So that being the case opinion polls are sometimes a Farce.

But whats more startling is the world has a lot more to do than just vote on such meaningless polls. Taj mahal is a Marvel I agree but i don't need to tell someone its the best Monument I have seen. I know it in my heart. All this gimmick is for Tourism and 4 states which mainly survive on Tourism need to win in this game.

India need not !
Indians have been there done that....

From Vinod Khosla founded Sun Microsystems to Vinod Dhams Pentium Processor work.

All the good stuff these days has an indian hand though it might say "made in Xyz".

The only sad thing is dat Bangalore which accounts for a huge chunk of the export revenue and was the Catalyst for Economic revival in India is a mere badly wounded shadow of what it used to be.

Bangalore's name which is one of the recent wonders of the world in terms of technology has lost its sheen. Because of the terrorist incidents in UK.

I consider Bangalore home and some people have tarnished the image of it beyond repair.

chuck the poll, How to repair the image of bangalore is whats in my mind.

Well going by the people involved and how they managed to hoodwink authorities in getting fake driving license etc. I think India itself is not safe against its own people.

The BBC surpisingly has a strange stance on the Terror incidents.
On one hand it condemns moslems. On the other their talk shows are complete with people claiming moslems are a part of british culture and they are misled by foreigners.

This is an interesting view point. Because for one they cannot remove the entire moslem community from the UK. And on the other hand they cannot live with Terrorism. Their only hope lies in trying to make some understanding and try to contain the hatred.

I feel if the moslems in UK do gang up. We will have one more palestine and Israel cat fight on our hands. Only difference the agressors will be Moslems and Britain might lose its land.

Unless countries understand and reform their policies vis-a-vis terrorists and its supporters they cannot rest peacefully.

They need to stop this bowing to the pressure created by Terrorists and should not soften their stand. In India its a different and meaningless cause.
It is ruled by an Italian who has no sense of whats happening. The Reservations are increased to keep the Minority community voters happy.

Who cares about which bomb kills whom.
The italian Femme Fatale is out here to make a fast Buck and make hay while the sunshines.
The Country is really going to the dogs.

A Frustrated Bangalorean

~P

[QOTM] July

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

-- Anonymouse

Looks like some people are taking it a bit too seriously going by the events in the UK.

And it seems above is changed like " every word that comes from the pages of a Book"

World is Flat ? well almost !!!

The World is Flat ? well almost....

If not the Americans will flatten it for sure :)

hmm.....At least some part (if not the Europe and North America). Looking at the bloodbath and chaos that manifests Afghanistan and Iraq the world surely seems flat. I am not even talking of Vietnam yet :).Flattened by dead bodies, left over pieces of metal junk destroyed suicide bombs, buildings razed to ground by bombings.The world today is a different world for sure.

There might be a house/complex being bombed shelled and razed to ground this very minute. As I have had the good fortune of travelling Asia and Europe. I serenity calmness in the lives of Asians and Europeans. But the same might well be missing in Middle East,Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan. Is there a parallel somewhere ?I mean some common factor ??

The US has clearly divided the Iraqis, Afghanis and (the latest) palestinians such that they infight among themselves and never really pose a threat to the USA.

Where the Israeli and Indian students create the next generation Technology.Where the European nations deploy the latest technological advancementsWhen across the world summits and talks are held on Global Warming and avoiding environmental hazards by adopting safe guard approaches. Some parts of the world are polarized & paralyzed by conflict strife hunger and bloodshed.

The world is flat ! It is actually spherical but is being flattened by devious Designs.
And this part of the Ghory program is sponsored by
Platinum sponsors "America INC".Gold Sponsors " America Armament selling companies"Silver Sponsors "American Oil Consuming/Grabbing companies consortium"

~P

Vincent Van Gogh : The Landscaped Life!

Shown here Landscape with Cypress by VVG

I was watching the documentary on Vincent Van Goghs life.

Though I have not seen many of his paintings he remains a big influence on me (which has been from 3 paintings only). This documentary was a revelation. It seems Vincent Van Gogh was never really appreciated in his times. His life was full of struggle and pain. But to imagine that such a creative Genius had to undergo failure and troubled times just goes to say that what van gogh we have/know of, might be a shadow of the original self Van Gogh was.
His death is termed as a suicide. yet the documentary showed taht in his last 70 days of life he had painted 70 or more different classics which could only mean he was not in a suicidal frame. At least to me it appears he might have had his share of enemies.

Back then due to primitive or zero methods for forensic investigators his death would have appeared as a suicide.(Van Gogh died in Auvers-Sur-Oise July29 1890 at the age of 37!!!!) the documentary also details how an upcoming painter/artist started living with Van gogh.

He used to frequently quarrel with van gogh. van gogh once in a fit of rage cut his own ear. These incidents mark what was a troubled period for him personally but a creative period for him artistically. To beleive he walked to his own death is difficult for me. Van gogh by then was loving the works he churned out by looking at the surrounding landscapes. Then why would he kill himself in the same landscape.

Looking at the paintings i believe that Van Gogh had peaked or reached the summit of his creative work. Or who knows he could have given the world many more such colourful and insightful paitings of his. Van goghs paitings say more than a thousand words.
On my last visit to Europe and especially to the Musuem in Paris, my eyes yearned for Van Gogh material.Van Gogh;s paitings are normally seen as ones which have come out of desolation. But Van Gogh's master strokes make me believe he almost dicated terms to his Brush. Retrospective feel is resplendent in all his paintings.I hope I can buy an original Vincent van Gogh painting some day to adorn my bedroom wall.

~P

Bheja Fly

Over a Tiring Flight...I watched a hindi flick which made the journey easy on me.

Bheja Fry
iz an example of a

1. Movie captivating audiences such that you don;t realise 99% movie has been made in a Single room all the time.

2. 99% time characters / action / dialogues revolve around 4 people.

3. Ingenuity of the writer which creates interesting situations which are figments of imagination joined togather for a funnier measure.

4. The Actors seldom change costumes but the emotions change ( Happy -> Distraught -> upbeat -> frustrated -> helpless )

5. Story telling at its best.

Initially though the movie appears to be thoroughfare but as the plot is spread and the characters assume centre stage,The protagonist is in supreme command the antagonist is in supreme pain :),

The element of Fun emerges.
The Protagonist is shown as a guy who tries to have fun at otheres expense by having dinner with funny people and calling it an audition.

Vinay Pathak with his brand of Bullet Prooof (non stop) nonsense shines out from all the actors. Sarika cuts a sorry figure with her comeback. Milind Soman has put in a poor effort with his acting. His sitcom acting was better off.
Story takes u back and forth into the characters n their lives which was the best part I feel. The story telling is impeccable.

Overall an average fare to get ur Bheja Fried and Roasted.

[Qotm] Muse of the Month - JUNE

• Embrace the unexpected! It keeps life interesting.
• Imagination is more important than knowledge.
• All things are difficult before they are easy.
• Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue.

On "Going to the mattresses"

You know i was feelin a lot blue...and needed to go to the mattresses badly.

But then I had sublime thoughts about the need to ""go to the mattresses"" (Korea Sojourn).

So thoughts spill over to the interesting times ahead.

My mind says oh not again and yippee at the same time (Can you imagine that ? ).

Well there are some reasons for the yin & yang.

And as I can hardly make time to meet old friends or do the household chores over the weekend.

I feel my day job sucks me into a hole i can never get out of!

Yep...Maybe u caught me cribbing yet again....[ do i hear "spare me the details"....well u pretty much got the details by now :) ]

Hmmm what then are the solutions ?

I practice strumming my guitar.

Watch some Movies and crash for tonite!

Use my bike to office on the Morrow ( pain in the neck i swear!)

my fellow blog readers ;-)I am gonna bang boom crash into bed any instant now.

& SOOOOO Good Bye n Guten Nacht!

The Coconut Vendor & My Impressions of Guilt

Impressions of Guilt or is it a guilt Trip ?

Today being sunday. I got up on a laidback morning. I was supposed to take Dad to one of the far off places around bangalore.

I was not in a hurry. My bike was in a good condition as i Vroomed it into action. Papa was comfortable in the pillion seat. We got into one of the one-way lanes while wading thru the Sunday Traffic.
I always observe the minuest of things for a possible source of trouble while riding. Its a habit picked up are having one nasty accident(which was no fault of mine, i swear)

As i navigated the blind kerb into the one-way lane. I saw this elderly coconut vendor who had stocked his Cycle with around 30 coconuts.

I never thought he would do a volte face' that instant.

But yes the next instant he had turned a full circle and was bang in my way. Since I always maintain distance and some leeway I could veer away my bike.

But I hit or I was hit by the cycle on my knee. which made me slightly imbalanced. This was bcoz we were surrounded by a lot of the Sunday Traffic which in any indian city can be overwhelming. So my balancing skills were put to a severe caustic test.

And on the other side the coconut vendor who was around 60years of age had lost his balance. balancing 30 coconuts laden cycle can be a daunting task. I could not stop my bike that very instant. Yet it was more a guilt trip i wanted to avoid.

It was not at all my mistake but then I could not face the old man who was after all out to make a living on a sluggish Sunday Morning.

I am reminded of Schubert's song.

I see a man who stares upwards
And wrings his hands from the force of his pain.
I shudder when I see his face.
The moon reveals myself to me.

Many times i think was i in error ?Was I unseeing ? what i ought to have seen !
My mind has jammed - was almost ajar. I felt the pressure of every breath

Somewhere was I cavalier ?
It is at these times That I find myself in a complete lack of Focus!

the Impression of guilt has turned to an expression of my guilt via this blog.

Am i Forgiven ?

~P

[QOTM] May

Between theory and practice, some talk as if they were two – making
a separation and difference between them. Yet wise men know that
both can be gained in applying oneself whole-heartedly to one.
- Bhagavad-Gıta 5:4

Short-sighted programming can fail to improve the quality of life. It
can reduce it, causing economic loss or even physical harm. In a few
extreme cases, bad programming practice can lead to death.
P. J. Plauger,
Computer Language, Dec. 1990

Daabi Daabi si shayari :(

Daabi Daabi si shayari :( for a change

Dorahe par khada hai Musafir

Chourahe par dikh rahi hain Manzil

Lagta hain dastak de rahi hain Zindagi

Lekin Na jaane kyun

Ajib si kashish aur kashmakash

Aey khayali Ayeenay Mere

Dikha de muzhe meri sahi Safar

~P

Battery :: better Safe than Sorry!

I met up some friends of mine working with IT services companies at a Good Friends Wedding.

table talk turned towards work and workplace.
Topics of chito chat included Quality and the extreme near paranoid emphasis on processes at these home grown IT Majors {Satyam/Infosys/TCS}.
My friend(manager@Infosys) explained to me how the processes at Infosys are so good that

• It simply cannot be bypassed.
• It can detect variances and process in-efficiences quite early
• Makes each and everything accountable to the decimal.

He says the over-emphasis is a strain on the employee but iz a sure-winner in any projects success. I tend to agree as some hazards can be really bad.... read below

I recollect this story about faulty Batteries in Laptops being replaced by companies.
In this case Acer which was selling Laptops with Sony Batteries recalled its laptop batteries due to suspicions of Faulty batteries.


Acer announced on Wednesday(25/04/2007) it would be recalling close to 27,000 of its Sony-made lithium-ion laptop batteries.
Taiwan-based Acer said that while none of the known incidents involved its own laptop models, the company will still be working with the agency to conduct the voluntary recall.

When asked why Acer had announced its recall months after its competitors had announced theirs, an Acer spokesman said that the company had been working with the USCPSC and Sony since the recall was announced.

"All parties felt it was better to be safe than sorry," the Acer spokesman said, acknowledging that it took the company months to come to that decision.



Acer follows Laptop makers Dell, Lenovo, Apple, Toshiba and others in this recall which is due to suspicions of faulty batteries in laptops having sony battery overheating and catching fire.

Since Sony is japanese and a rich company it can afford a recall. Though its name takes a battering due to the bad battery episode.

In hindsight it appears that processes are the key to survival of companies in this days of cut-throat competition. A slight glitch and the company image suffers. So the increased emphasis of IT majors on good and robust processes is a well thought of measure by Indian Companies to show "Zero Defect" results to its clients scattered across the globe.

Though india have a long way to get successful products or companies like Apple, Sony, Samsung. It sure is gearing up towards the same in the right way.
Now all it needs is a good product which will be revolutionary and ground breaking in the market . I mean the Overseas market.
Cmon India dikha do!!!
Innovative aur Successful products bana do !!!

~P

Picture Perfect n Made for Each Other....

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek look radiant and a Perfect pair.

Aishwarya [believe me] looks like a Deity(Devi) with all the gold and ornaments.

Abhishek with his unkempt beard looks bit stranded :( and out of place !

For once it appears Ash is marrying a Daku out of fear :) . But They actually make a good pair and are Picture Perfect Couple.

I wish them a Happy and Prosperous Married Life !!

Thisz kinda Harbinger of times for the Bacchans

• Time for the Big B to retire
• Small B to settle down and
• Make way for the Junior B
• Who will be Handsome and Beautiful
• Talented Actor and Monolithic Personality like a greek God :)

Only Time will tell whether we will have a Junior Ash or a Junior B ;-)

!P

Spotted : Satan @ the World Bank

paul wolfowitz w/girlfriend shaha riza

And Guess what he wears Prada ;-)
And the funniest of all he says He iz the Monk who sold his Ferrari to 'Save the World' LOL

Yep.... I am referring to the President of the World Bank.
Who has been caught napping with his pants down.
He sure has given a new meaning ( or is it Dimension?? ) to the word 'Raise'.
He apparently got his Galfriend a raise which was more than double the stipulated by Bank rules.
What on earth called for such out of turn and above average Favouritism ? It is said that she was his love interest.
Makes it a case of Satanic Raises ;-) indeed.
And yet Mr. Wolfowitz in his true wolf style says he is sorry about such things and pleads "Not Guilty" How Satanly behaviour I must say...! It appears "The World is not Flat" it sure has its sharp curves !!!!

From the archives of Murray Waas

Wolfowitz, who as Deputy Secretary of Defense was considered an architect of the U.S. war with Iraq, disclosed to bank board members that he had a romantic relationship with a senior bank communications officer, Shaha Riza, shortly after he was nominated to head the World Bank. Bank regulations disallow bank employees from supervising spouses or romantic partners, but Wolfowitz reportedly attempted to circumvent the rules so he would be able to continue to work with Riza.

Informed by the bank's ethics officers that that would not be allowable, the problem appeared solved when Riza was detailed to work at the State Department's public diplomacy office in September 2005--even though her salary was still to be paid by the World Bank.

Before she was detailed over to the State Department, Riza was earning $132,660, according to the bank's payroll records obtained by the Governmental Accountability Project. Had the bank's board adhered to its ordinary rules, as Riza was shifted over to the State Department, she should have only been eligible for a raise of about $20,000.
Instead she was given a raise of $47,340, whereupon her salary became $180,000. Then last year, she received yet another raise which brought her salary to $193,950. That salary increase not only meant that Riza earned more than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
but apparently made her the single highest paid State Department official.

~P

My Saturdays n Sundays

just points out my lethargy and lazygoose nature on these two special days of the week :)

Saturdays and Sundays....

-:) P